Hot Topics:

Grant amount key for Tewksbury turf project

By Katie Lannan, klannan@lowellsun.com

Updated:
10/04/2012 12:40:47 AM EDT

TEWKSBURY -- Although voters in April town election rejected by a wide margin plans to finance the construction of a $1.94 million sports complex, a scaled-back proposal to build one artificial-turf athletic field at Tewksbury Memorial High School won over residents at Special Town Meeting this week.

The article that passed, 204 to 36 Tuesday night, asked for $750,000 to be spent on field construction only if the town first wins a Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities grant from the state Division of Conservation Services.

"It all depends on the grant," said School Committee member Brian Dick, president of the Friends of Tewksbury Community Athletic Complex. "We're lucky to even have a group of people that applied for the $400,000 grant. If that doesn't come through, then it's not going to be a great thing."

According to the submitted grant application, the town is seeking the maximum reimbursement amount of $400,000. Of the remaining $350,000 required, $50,000 will come from funds already raised by FTCAC and $300,000 will be furnished by the town.

The grant application also breaks down how the money will be spent, with $25,000 going to design costs, $25,000 for grading of the site, $100,000 for drainage and $600,000 for the installation of the turf.

The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs set a tentative award date for the PARC grants at around 100 days from the July 12 application deadline. This puts the announcement in line to be made in mid- to late October.

Advertisement

Town Manager Richard Montuori said last week that the project, as presented at Special Town Meeting, was "substantially different" from earlier plans.

"The previous project had lights, bleachers, concession stands," he said. "It was really a full complex, so this is just a field."

Montuori said one issue with the complex had been the proposed lighting, with abutters concerned about night usage of the facility. Neighbors also worried about increased traffic since the plans called for more than 1,000 seats.

The updated project does not include lights and would not accommodate as large a crowd.

The downsized plans still had some opponents at Town Meeting, many of whom said the project remained too costly.

Resident Malcolm Nichols was among the handful of voters to voice his opposition during discussion of the field, calling the synthetic turf a "ridiculous" expense and questioning its necessity.

"The presumption here is that the Astroturf field is better," he said. "People will say that because it costs more, it must be better."

Montuori told The Sun that installing artificial turf would allow the field to be used for multiple sports and keep maintenance costs low.

The grant application specifies that the field will host soccer, football, lacrosse and field hockey, as well as summer camps and school programs.

Groups wishing to use the field will have to obtain a permit, with priority given to school athletic games and practices, then to town and school programs, local youth organizations and local adult organizations.

Official town and school programs will not be charged a fee to use the field, while youth organizations will be charged $15 per person per season. Adult organizations will be charged $100 per game, as will residents or nonresidents seeking one-time use.

A provision of the PARC program is that access to the field cannot be restricted to town residents.

In a separate warrant article, Town Meeting also approved the construction of five tennis courts at the high school, using $375,000 from the Community Preservation Acts funds, which can only be spent on projects involving historical preservation, affordable housing or open-space protection, including recreation.

The original athletic-complex proposal included the same number of courts but did not involve this dedicated funding.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.